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Saturday, May 31, 2014

I need to do some serious catching up on book reviews--so like I seem to do on this blog--there will be a lot of consecutive posts so that I can get these all out of the way. Here comes one of 6 :)

Title:Dune Road

Author: Jane Green

Genre: Fiction/Chick Lit

Rating: 3 out of 5

Why Did I Read? I started using OverDrive Media Console to borrow books from the library--and this was the first one that I tried out. I don't know for sure why I picked this one...because really it was the first book I stumbled on that looked halfway decent. This audio was nice to have on my Kindle and in my car. The audio was by Cassandra Campbell

Summary:Kit Hargrove has divorced her Wall Street rich husband for the simpler life. She has gotten a lot less stress, but now must provide for herself. She has gained a new job with bestselling author Robert McClore. We learn about her friends and their lives as they all try to start over after dealing with unexpected events. Romance comes to Kit--but is it real?

What Did I Love:

The storyline...it was very entertaining

There were moments of amazing wisdom tidbits that were very profound and really made me think about my own life

What Did I Hate:

The language got bad toward the end....it was really weird that it kind of came out of nowhere

The story seemed to kind of drag a bit toward the end--I feel like things could have been wrapped up a lot quicker and cleaner--hence the 3

Monday, May 19, 2014

I haven't been great to do the daily check-ins over the weekend...I didn't feel like I was reading a lot. But today, I thought that I would put up my goals and just tell you now how I did.

Goal #1: Finish The Book Thief---Success!

Goal #2: Finish Split Second--Success! Finished yesterday :)

Goal #3: Make progress on my two audio books Matched and Thirteen Reasons Why....I finished the fourth disc today while I was almost done with disc two. Thirteen Reasons Why--I was just barely started with this book and I am now almost done with the second part.

Not too bad with the reading this time...I think this is the Bout of Books where I finished the most books.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Update for Yesterday--I didn't get a lot of reading done. I spent about 45 minutes or so cleaning listening to Thirteen Reasons Why. I spent some time working on other things....wish I could have read more. By the end of the week, I get so tired. I'm worried I won't read much today either. But hopefully Saturday goes better. I will check in tomorrow about today :)

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Yesterday was a great day because I got to hang out with the book club. We talked about The Book Thief and picked a book by Neil Gaiman called The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I am excited to read it and see what I think.

In terms of my reading--I didn't get much done since I spent my evening there. I listened to both audio books a bit...but not a whole lot to really shock anyone. I am now on the next disc of Matched and I finished the first of five parts of Thirteen Reasons Why. I am a few more chapters into Split Second but I haven't made great progress yet.

With it being the 15th it is also TBR Pile Check-in Day. I feel pretty accomplished with my list this month.
My list was:

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (2009)

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (2006) just finished on Tuesday

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (2010) just finished last Wednesday

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (2007) CURRENTLY READING!

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2012)

The Perks of Being a Wildflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)

Matched by Ally Condie (2010) CURRENTLY READING!

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (2011)

The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry (2007) JUST GOT FROM THE LIBRARY

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (1817) Finished in March

Lady Susan by Jane Austen (1791)

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2004)

Considering my slower start...having three completed, two in progress, and at least one on deck I am feeling really good about it :)

Monday, May 12, 2014

This is the start of the week of Bout of Books. So excited to commit to reading more this week and see if I can't wrap up some books. I haven't been talking much about what I've been reading recently, so here's what I've got on the TBR/currently reading list.

So first number one goal is to finish The Book Thief. A few ladies in the neighborhood and I have started a book club and we have our meeting to discuss it on Wednesday. I have like 100 pages left...so that is a must the next two days Bout of Books or not.

I am listening to two audio books at the same time right now--Matched and Thirteen Reasons Why and it would be good to make good progress in those books.

I also want to finish Split Second by David Baldacci. I got one of his books from the library--and realized that it was in fact the third in the series. Split Second is the first and I have been drawing it out a bit more. With the detective work and mystery aspect I'm starting to loose track of the little stuff. So it would be good to finish that one.

In other news---I want to start the second Baldacci, read the 5th Fablehaven which I haven't done yet, and read The Fault in our Stars because I don't want the previews to ruin the characters too much. See what I mean about the TBR list being too long!!

So time for realistic goals:

Finish The Book Thief (at the start of today I was on page 359)

Finish Split Second (at the start of today I was on page 315)

Make progress on audio books--Matched was towards the end of the second disc this morning and Thirteen Reasons Why....I'm not sure but I'm not super far in yet

Saturday, May 10, 2014

It is that time again!!! Bout of Books starts Monday. I am excited to get involved in this Bout of Books. It's not too late to sign up yourself.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

On Monday I will be posting my goals--though I hope this weekend to finish The Book Thief so I can get some other books done during Bout of Books.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Been meaning to write this one all week...time to look back at April and see how I did. Not as well as I had envisioned. It was great to go and see people's blogs with my students--but I wish I had been able to comment as me. That was the biggest involvement with A to Z that I had--was with my students. And honestly I probably shouldn't cut myself short with that. It was A LOT of work. I ended up writing a few of the blog posts with student writings pushed together, and just full out writing one myself. And then I had to hound students for FOREVER to get their posts. Sometimes not getting them until the day the letter went up.

I had envisioned A to Z having everything scheduled and being able to go visit on this blog. But March got away from me and it took me FOREVER to come up with a theme. I really wanted to do a theme this year--and I did pretty well until the end of the alphabet. I had pretty much caught up on everything by the time we got to like U. So the end of my alphabet wasn't great.

I have also gotten out of the habit of publicizing this thing. I have gotten so lazy with it after #365...I felt like everyone was done seeing me constantly post this on Facebook or Twitter. But seriously--if you want the views you have to do it! That is one thing that I learned with this year's A to Z.

Goals for next time are to try again with scheduling and writing ahead of time. At least having each letter planned so that I'm not doing the...ugh what do I write about today that starts with......

Those of you that have stuck around as Inspirefly spits and starts thank you---and hopefully see you soon with more posts :) And I hope to come around and see new people as I hop on the Road Trip!